Beef Stew

Beef Stew... Aaahhh. The thought of it makes my mouth water. This was a sought-after, reinvented recipe from my foster mom, Janet Crouch, some 24 years ago in Hoopeston, Illinois. This one works well if you're a busy mom. Just invest in one of those crock pots (slow cookers) with a ceramic base. Dump in all the ingredients before going to work and forget about it. Then for lunch, your home will be saturated with the sweet aroma of sumpteous, homemade stew!

1 kilo lean beef cutlets (preferably from the femur or the tibia part)
4 pcs chorizo bilbao (from a can of purefoods bilbao or Spanish sausages) cut into diagonal slices

1 pack of chopsuey mix (composed of ready made cuts of carrots, cauliflower, cabbages,sayote, etc)
2 large bulbs of white sweet onion, peeled and cut quarterly
1 med pack ginisa flavor mix
1 tsp. Chili powder
freshly cracked pepper
A handful of cherry tomatoes
A handful of cherry potatoes (unpeeled and cleaned well), cut in halves

a can of button mushrooms, drained and sliced thinly

4 cups Water
1 tbsp. butter

If using a slow cooker:
Arrange the meat at the bottom of large slowcooker, followed by the chorizos/sausages, the cherry potatoes, then lay over the rest of the chopsuey mix then the onions, then tomatoes last. Crack a handful amount of pepper and ginisa flavor mix on top of the casserole. Pour in the water and pop in the butter. Turn on the slowcooker for a minimum of 6 hours on low heat or 3 to 4 hours on high heat. Do not touch until cooked. Serve immediately.

If using a pressure cooker:
Tenderize the meat first with 3 cups water (or more) for 30 to 45 minutes using the pressure cooker. After 30 minutes, exhaust and open the pressure cooker and check if meat is tender. Proceed with cooking the stew on the same pot. Do not take out the tenderized beef. Pour in the rest of the ingredients mentioned above until vegetables become tender for about 20 minutes. Avoid turning or tossing the vegetables while cooking.

Serve hot with crackers, buttered toast or rice . Good for 4 hungry people. Approximate cost Php. 600

She gets up before dawn to prepare breakfast for her household and plan the day’s work for her servant girls. Proverbs 31:15

Everyday, I See Your Glory

written October 27, 2007
desert experience

picture taken at Sipalay, May 2007

I see Your glory
in my children’s eyes
in chirps of birds
sing lullabies.
I see Your glory
beyond the skies
in all my days
I sing You praise!
I see Your glory
at flowing streams
in answered prayers
and in my dreams.

I see Your glory

in the rain

or in a bible story

indeed You reign!
I see Your glory
when tears deploy
rejoicing comes
my heart enjoys!
I see Your glory
when flowers bloom -
The air is bathe
in perfume.
I see Your glory
at sunset bay
the horizon
resplendence display.
I see Your glory
in my hand
it traces the future
for all is planned.
I see Your glory
on the cross
You have redeemed
What was lost.

I see Your glory

at resurrection

may I walk

my life's reflection.

I see Your glory

in my heart

all the love

that You impart.

I see Your glory

everyday

may You be pleased

as I obey.

Jed on Scooter

Meet Jed, my son who just learned to ride Pop's scooter. With him is Daisy with her bike.

The right way to peel Castañas

It’s only October and I can smell Christmas in the air! Christmas is not Christmas without Poinsettias, ham, queso de bola, lechon…. and castanas!
Castañas (or chestnuts) is a favorite of my family. We buy them cooked from grocery stores so we don’t have to roast them. Chestnuts are very high in starch. Most people will only eat a few at a sitting but my family just can’t stop once we get started.
However, through the years, I have found a way to peel them without much hassle. Here’s how:

1. Quickly strike each nut with a mallet. Your goal here is to create a small slit across the rounded side of your chestnut. Beware, unsliced chestnuts can explode causing not only a safety hazard but a big mess to boot! (Tita Nena, thank you for the tip).
2. Toast cooked castañas in the oven for 5 minutes or 3 minutes in the toaster
3. Spread into a basket lined with a towel
4. When peeling without the use of a mallet, simply pop the nut with the fat side facing you (see picture). It should be no trouble if your nuts are fresh and newly toasted
5. Be sure to peel away the outer shell and the inner brown skin before eating your chestnuts.
6. Serve roasted chestnuts while still warm for best taste.
7. Remember to always store unused fresh, cooked, and/or roasted chestnuts in the refrigerator

While you are at it, here's Nat to sing you the Christmas song.... Enjoy!

My daughter's encouragement

My daughter's short love note... after I was discouraged about my exams.

A letter to my siblings

On the horizon....His grace abound!

September 2007

So you have heard the news? Yes, my major setback over 3 weeks ago, by God's grace, I survived! The thought of me not passing the local nursing boards was a big disappointed. I almost gave up. Doubt and shame besieged me and could not believe that I failed. "I worked so hard for this!", I said to myself. I also started to compare myself with people I know who were not serious with nursing, yet passed the board without sweating for it! This reality shattered me to pieces. At some point, I stopped analyzing the scenario but questions continued to bombard my thoughts. I asked God all sorts of questions, big ones. "Is this the end of the road for me?" I was hopeless, depressed and deeply discouraged.
I had to go....very far from here. I meant to seek for answers for I was overwhelmed with questions. This was not only a major set-back, but I was faced with a battle head-on. With a bleeding heart, I threw in a couple of blouses, a swimsuit, my bible, the "Promised Land" book, my journal and pen on a long 5 hour bus journey to Dumaguete. Six days of retreat and isolation, I likened myself as that of the Israelites in Eqypt. God impressed in my heart that I was "enslaving" myself to hard work, not realizing that I was putting off God's will and plan for my life. I was planning for myself, I was determining my days! I failed to see God as I was busy doing my own agenda. I blinded myself by becoming too engrossed with nursing as the answer to the difficulties in life! I was looking at the things that are seen and not the unseen because everything was smooth as I was going through this stage of my life. There was provision, determination and success, which I thought was of God's finished path. My anticipation was high. I would then give my children better options and start earning more, have a great ministry and dreams will come true. I really thought that uprooting and off to a land with greener pasture was the answer. But I was rebuked lovingly by God. God comforted me in my retreat. He impressed in my heart that He was actually delivering me from enslavement when I failed the exams. It took this kind of a major event to make me realize that He is uprooting me from my "own" ambition. He helped me tore down "kings" in my life. It was a tough battle. God's deliverances are often unconventional and it was beyond my comprehension. I believe that out of this becomes a better, stronger person in me, a new thing is birthing out of me. The Scriptures teach, "'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,' declares the Lord. 'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts'" (Isa 55:8,9). Again, we read, "But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things that are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised, God has chosen, the things that are not, that He might nullify the things that are, that no man should boast before God" (1 Cor 1:27-29).
“God's people must learn to obey, regardless what is required, and regardless how unusual or meaningless it seems”. This is a humbling lesson; and it is an essential lesson. God does not have to justify Himself and give me a reason for why He requires what He does. I was to learn not only obedience, but also that God does things His way, according to His good pleasure. I have to realize this the hard way. I have to be taught discipline and “waiting upon the Lord”. All this requires….. SIMPLE OBEDIENCE. No thrills , no fuss. Simple, wholehearted, flawless, obedience. It is easier said than done but that is all there is to it.
As I am about to cross my River Jordan, I continue, moving on in faith to claim what God has promised me and my family to possess. I welcomed God’s loving rebuke and know that it was for my own good. Nothing was wasted. Instead, I gained much more in His knowledge and strength. This is not the end for me. God has a finished path for me. My destiny may have stumbling blocks and hurdles along the way, but that’s okay. I know how it is like to be bruised and wounded. They all have a purpose. I am assured that God replaces them with comforting words that will train me to be a better athlete as I continue on with the race. Philippians 3:13 & 14 [NLT] ”Dear brothers and sisters, I am not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us from heaven”.
I’m taking the exams scheduled on December 1 and 2. This time, God is in charge! I will leave behind the past, embrace the present and faithfully, look expectantly to the future for He reigns sovereign over my life.
His grace abound in the present, Thank God and let go as I continue living one breath at a time. May His perfect will and plan be accomplished under heaven for me and my family! May this experience of mine bless and encourage you. I love you very much! Shalom.

Crying......

I learned.... that Sometimes crying is the best response.

What about coffee? To drink or not to drink?

My husband and I consider ourselves coffee lovers but that does not make us connoisseurs. We get our coffee beans direct from baguio every now and then. Ours is a mixture of Arabica, Benguet and Barako. Lately though, I haven’t been sleeping very well. I discovered that having two cups of coffee a day (one in the morning and one after lunch) does give me a bit of insomia. In nursing school, I have learned a few things about coffee, its pros and cons to health. And here they are:

The good news:
*Caffeine increases intellectual activity when fatigued or bored.
*Caffeine speeds up fat metabolism during exercise while conserving glycogen and glucose thereby maintaining brain activity and reducing hunger.
*Caffeine prevents crystallization of cholesterol and reduces risk of development of gallstones. Coffee has a protective effect against cirrhosis of the liver.
*Coffee has shown a protective effect against colon cancer likely due to enhanced colonic activity of the colon and antimutagenic components in coffee.
*Coffee may lower the incidence of Parkinson’s disease due to high anti-oxidant activity.
*The theophylline in coffee may be protective against asthma.
*Coffee has four times the anti-oxidants of Green Tea, makes an excellent anti-depressant, and enhances performance and memory.
*Caffeine dilates the arteries of the brain and may counter migraines. (Caffeine is also a cause of migraines.)
*The FDA considers caffeine to be “Generally Recognized as Safe.”
*Coffee may reduce the incidence of kidney stones by increasing the flow of urine and decreasing its concentration.
*Coffee lessens the incidence of bladder cancer in smokers due to its diuretic effect.
*Minerals like magnesium and antioxidants may contribute to coffee being shown to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes.
*Coffee has the ability to reduce the release of histamine from mast cells thereby having anti-allergic properties. With all of these conflicting studies, it is apparent that common sense must prevail.

The bad news:
*Coffee, including decaf, has high amounts of vitamin K, which affects coagulability of the blood – bad for people at risk of heart attack, stroke and blood clots.
*Decreases quality of sleep.
*Caffeine may cause problems with blood sugar control after meals for type 2 diabetics.
*Coffee excites more rapid peristaltic movements of the intestines resulting in shorted transit times and less absorption of nutrients.
*Coffee hampers the absorption of essential minerals and vitamins such as magnesium, zinc, iron, potassium, and B’s.
*Coffee contributes to caries in the teeth.
*Coffee stimulates more frequent urination and subsequent loss of various vitamins and minerals such as B, C, calcium, iron and zinc.
*Caffeine may aggravate osteoporosis by leaching calcium from the bones.
*Caffeine may increase intraocular pressure in persons with glaucoma.
*Coffee may interfere with proper levels of homocysteine and cholesterol by inhibiting vitamins folate, B12 or B6.
*Coffee is one of most heavily pesticide sprayed crops.
*Caffeine aggravates stress in people who drink it every day.

So, what’s your verdict?

Chops in Coke

I really have not thought of a name for this recipe but it has been a frequent dish on our family table. This is when there's nothing inside the freezer to cook but porkchops. Well ladies, I have invented something... a speedy way of turning an unexpected to a miraculous, mouth-watering meal! It's so simple to do... you will find this dish on your table often as well. Happy Coke-ing!

Ingredients:

1 Coke Litro
1.5 kls. Porkchops
a couple of bay leaves
1 bulb sweet onion sliced
cracked pepper
salt to taste
a pinch of dried mixed herbs (optional)
1 heapful teaspoon of sweet ginamos (those from the bottle will do. The spicy ones are preferable)
fried garlic for garnishing

Directions:
In a medium casserole, arrange and spread the chops around. Pour in the Coke, onion and bayleaves. Let it simmer for about 20 minutes until meat is tender. Add in salt, freshly cracked pepper. Just before serving, try to take out the oil that have surfaced then add in the ginamos until evenly mixed. The meat is so tender you can serve immediately with the sauce as a rice topping with sprinkled fried garlic! Yum!

A Day filled with Miracles!

Friday night, the day before the medical missions, weather forecast showed 60% chance of rain. The medical missions organizers, about 50 dedicated, came together and laid out a makeshift pharmacy, a dental clinic for 22 volunteer dentists, general medicine clinic for 12 volunteer doctors, blood letting area and an eye check up station with 250 eyeglasses neatly laid out on the table ready to be given out for free. We prayed corporately and claimed for a sunny weather for the “big day”.
The next day was a miracle! July 28, God answered the cry of our hearts in the early light of the morning, a beautiful sunny day! I saw the smiling faces of about a hundred volunteers geared up for the long haul with eager, excited hearts to see young and old alike arrive at Ikthus center. Double lines began forming early at the registration counter that stretched up to about 20 meters. Around 1300 recipients from 5 barangays and walk-ins waited in line to avail of the medical services.
Operation Care Ministry (OCM) was born in 2004 to address the physical and spiritual needs of indigents around the city. By sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ and the abundance of medical blessings, OCM gives hope and healing.

The ministry conducts two to three medical missions in a year. Each OCM event treats about 1500 recipients from chosen barangays. OCM offers Electrocardiogram (ECG) check-up, Blood Sugar Determination (BSD), Tooth Extraction, Eye Check-up with reading glasses, medical consultation and medicines, Surgical Services like Circumcision and Local mass excision, Cataract Operation screening, aside from partnering with Red Cross for Blood Letting activities. All of these services are offered for free.
We thank the medical doctors, dentists, nurses, and volunteers with their gifts of time and commitment. We also thank the Lord for those that journeyed with us in prayers. And for those that gave material resources and donations, may God abundantly bless you more!
Because of the need to continue on with our mission, we will facilitate blood letting activity on September 15 in collaboration with Philippine National Red Cross – Bacolod Chapter. Then on December 8, a comprehensive medical missions in all disciplines will also be conducted.Our goal is to be faithful servants of God. We long to be used by Him and to willingly serve Him fully. We strive to provide love and medical care to the hurting and suffering people in this world. In everything we do, we return all the glory and honor back to Him!

View link: more pictures at : http://www.bccbikthus.org/album/ocm072807/index.html

OCM video below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=px9sdvCh4vU